Five Hosts, five nights of food and fun, £1000 to win. Hilarity Ensues.
International "game show" format, originally produced by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom, 2005 to present.
The concept is simple: Five (four in primetime) contestants take turns hosting a dinner party at their houses (you don't have to cook the food; but it's generally the done thing). The four/three other contestants mark it secretly on a scale of 1 of 10. The contestant with the highest score wins £1,000. note
As with an omelette, great things can come out of a simple idea. You get arguments, bad food ideas and all the eccentricities of this world. Season with a fine dressing of snark from narrator Dave Lamb, and you have a superb meal for four.
There are multiple versions of the show:
- A Couples Variant that's hosted over 3 days in a single episode
- A Celebrity Edition which has celebrities compete to be the best host
- Celebrity Couples competing for pride and winning for their charity.
- The Professionals, where restaraunts compete instead of hosts
- And finally, Champions of Champions, which is hosted in a mansion, and each champion is up against two others and are judged by a Michelin start chef, as well as some secret scoring.
This show contains examples of:
- 100% Completion: It's never happened, and it's rare for the hosts to get anything higher than 30-35, the highest score was Ian Cook from Liverpool who received 39, the only negative for his night was that he served water in plastic bottles instead of in glass ones.
- Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: Well there's plenty of booze on some nights so of course, it's going to happen. A great example was Andy Wright from Bristol, who made the excuse that they kept giving it to him.
- Amoral Afrikaner: in Leeds, ex-pat South African contestant Garth managed to offend all four of the other contestants with ease, simply by being this trope. His forthright and un-toned-down opinions, especially on the status of women, were not well received.
- An Aesop:
- "Actions have consequences and you really shouldn't expect people to forget how you have treated them in the past because you are now doing what is expected of you". Many contestants have lost the show, not because their food was bad or poorly presented, but because of their misconduct the night before bit them in the arse when it was their turn to host the dinner party.
- "Follow the rules of hospitality to the nines and make sure you fully know who your guests are before making any arrangements". One hostess decided to play a joke on one of their guests by putting a bag on his head and calling him ugly, completely failing to understand how cruel and humiliating it might look to someone else. Another host decided to serve Non-Vegetarian Parmesan and Roast Potatoes in Goose Fat to one guest, who made it clear to him that she was a strict vegetarian. Unsurprisingly, not only did this upset her, but she gave him only one star for the night. Finally, one host decided to hire maids for the night but this backfired because everyone was irritated by the bell he was using to summon the maids and they soon asked him to send the women home.
- Asian Rudeness: Philippina sales manager Sylvain in the Aberdeen week came across as abrupt, ambitious, peppery and having no truck with idiots.
- Asshole Victim: When a guest is proven to be abrasive and judgmental rather than hospitable and courteous, nobody feels bad for them at all when they lose.
- Berserk Button: Any part of a meal being shop-bought is a common one, and winning after having done this is almost unheard of.
- Also different opinions of views don't go well sometimes it feels like Channel Four purposely chooses them to let this happen.
- Examples include the one when the Tory was put into the same room with an Lawyer who laid into her views on Capital Punishment, they began rowing after her night.
- Also different opinions of views don't go well sometimes it feels like Channel Four purposely chooses them to let this happen.
- Big-Breast Pride: Tula in Swansea, who contrived to wear a low-cut top every night and even when she was prepping the food in her own kitchen.
- There was also a woman in Bristol with big breasts who wore a bright pink corset that was so tight that if she sneezed it could have popped.
- Blatant Lies: Sometimes people will secretly use store bought and try to hide it only for the other contestants to find the empty packet in the bin.
- Also in one episode the bluff was clear to see, the host served her dessert with tinned custard and when asked how she made it she claims that it looked yellow due to the egg whites, to add salt to the wound, the next host served his dessert with homemade custard showing her up.
- The Bore: Early in the show there was a foodie who gave a lecture on each wine which was so dull, that the editors would fade cut to the end of the lecture. Unsurprisingly the guests were glad to leave that night.
- The Bully: It comes off on some guests, sometimes it's editing, other-times it's can be real:
- Examples: a woman put a paper bag on a guy's head because he was 'ugly', when she received Death Threats she tried to apologise saying that it was her 'Northern' sense of humour.
- One guy made the news after he made one guest cry. She was a strict Vegetarian and he purposely served her a Pasta Bake with Canned Soup and Non-Vegetarian Parmesan and Roast Potatoes in Goose Fat. He received a 1 from her unsurprisingly, but he claimed he did it as a "joke"
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- Can't Take Criticism: There was a week where on the first night one of the guests found it difficult to eat the spicy food, so the next was his night the previous host said his food was so bland that she ate before she came. They ended up fighting on the Wednesday night.
- Cheaters Never Prosper:
- In the second series, a woman gave low scores in order to win, got caught out by the producers, and was forced to re-score her competitors or leave the show. She did and was Runner Up instead.
- There was another time where the winner was forced to admit that days later, he was a head chef, lying on the forms that he managed his restaurant and the guests re-scored him for his deception.
- Chirping Crickets: Often added in post in particularly boring conversations:
- One example was a man ringing a bell for waitresses to arrive, and every time he rang the bell next to him the others guests sat in silence, until they requested him to stop and send the girls home.
- Another time had a woman who kept saying the wrong thing to one of the guests, she kept saying the wrong things on her own night, to the point of Night Four, nobody wanted to spent time with her so the Host had her counting the table decorations.
- There was one week where two of the guests went to the same school and it was clear that they weren't friends.
- Cordon Bleugh Chef: The more ambitious (and oftentimes deluded) contestants can come off as this. One woman served Creme Brulee with Cream Cheese rather than custard, which went down as a good as a Chocolate Fireguard. Someone else did a Sausage Trifle, one man was into fitness and served Chicken and Rice for all three courses, the desert being Tavuk (Turkish Rice Pudding with Shredded Chicken) he was willing to eat it, but two of the guests left the table.note And then there was the couple whose three courses consisted of chicken wings cooked in chili and cherry cola, a bacon roly-poly with cheese custard, and "brownie roulette".
- Sometimes gross sounding food has surprised people; for example Cardiff's Emma Nurse (a real Nurse, by the way) her starter was Brussel Sprouts Pate which was shown as off-putting, but on the night it apparently tasted quite nice.
- Crossover: Come Dine with the Dragons, a 2010 Children in Need Special, featuring Peter Jones, Theo Paphitis and Duncan Bannatyne as cooks, and Deborah Meaden as an extra judge. Notable in that each Dragon cooked one part of a three course meal, that was all eaten in one night, rather than each one hosting a separate dinner party.
- Deadpan Snarker: Narrator Dave Lamb. Though much less deadpan (and much more snarky) as time has goes on.
- Deep-Fried Whatever: In a Glasgow episode , one of the hosts served his fellow diners a deep fried lasagna.
- Didn't Think This Through: This being a home-made cooking cook, this tends to happen a lot:
- Contestants will remember how they were treated by the host and by their fellow guests and it will leave an impact on how they score the night. Many contests have exchanged heated words and insults between each other and then expected to be given a high score when it was their turn to host dinner, only to receive a poor score because of their conduct the night before. The reason is that everyone either held a grudge or was otherwise incredulous about the host's efforts to appease everyone. Similarly, if the host is fair and polite as a guest, it allows guests to be kinder to them as well when it's their turn to host dinner because they believe it's authentic.
- One of the hosts was low on booze and he hoped that the guests would gift him bottles of wine to help (which in fairness, is not an unusual thing to take to the host on the show), but comes the night they gift him flowers meaning he had to water down the few bottles he had.
- Dinner and a Show: The contestants get the (preferably home-cooked) dinner, We get the show. Sometimes, the host provides some sort of entertainment to their guests in between courses.
- The Ditz: Sophie from Cardiff at Huw's house, she and Gina went looking around and looking in his bedroom Gina remarked on his open planned en-suite bathroom as being classy but Sophie's only remark was what happens if he has a stinky poo, she even goes as far as to as this at the table and Huw reveals he's single and so it doesn't matter.
- Epic Fail: In one episode, contestant Lee had a dinner party so poorly planned and so poorly made (combined with his unpleasant attitude) that the guests gave him an overall score of 7; the lowest score on the show to date.
- Eskimos Aren't Real: In an episode set in Glasgow, the host on one evening mentioned that she was originally from Tanzania, and offered to teach the others a few words of Swahili. One of the other contestants was amazed, believing it to be a made-up language and somehow linked it to unicorns. The reactions of everyone else around the table are priceless.
- ** In another episode, one of the contestants had never heard of the South Pole. When the others try to explain to her that it exists and where it is,she becomes convinced that they are winding her up.
- Exiled to the Couch: In one episode one guest was so tired that, she napped on the couch until the next course. A more purposed example on the final night, one guest went stroppy because they were annoyed everybody talked about the food, so the host told her to cool down on the couch while they enjoyed the night.
- Face–Heel Turn: Sometimes, the first individual will serve well, be a great host and all that follows, then once the pretense is gone they become the guest from hell. Perfect Example was a guy who was delightful on his night. Night two, he asked a mature student if he's ever going to get a job. Night three, when there was a delay in the serving of the main course, he goes off on one that everybody is glad that he loses.
- There was another man who was polite for most of the time, however on his night, he put flowers on his plates, not realising that one flower was known to be fatal if ingested, then after this slight mistake was dealt with he had a breakdown that he was so embarrassed by how bad the Main wasn't up to par, however the next night he starts butting heads with the first contestant for being so 'negative' blaming her for his fails.
- Feminine Women Can Cook: Regularly subverted with female contestants who pay more attention to their clothes, hair and makeup than they do to their cooking, possibly proving that this one is not Truth in Television.
- Fish out of Water: Sometimes the challengers are from different classes, it's funny to see classy people slumming it. But in the one Celebrity Special, there was Four Northerners and One Socialite, the camera shows her displeased with the others, and after night 2, she quits the show and her replacement was somebody more suited to the group.
- French Jerk: A Bristol week had an expatriate Frenchwoman called Anne, who took the French Jerk persona way past eleven. She refused to drink a host's wine, turning it down in a most haughty manner as unworthy of her. Then scoffed at a co-guest's occupation of soft-furnishing salesman, considering it unbearingly boring, along with an obligatory snigger of derision.
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Follow the Leader: Quite a few narrators of game shows/reality shows since Come Dine With Me have cribbed off Dave Lamb's snarky delivery. - Foreign Queasine: An American contestant confessed the biggest ordeal to him would be having to consume the British idea of good dinner party cooking for four nights straight. An Italian contestant said the same concerning the British idea of what Italian food should look and taste like. And of course there was Frenchwoman Anne.
- Four-Point Scale: It's rare to see a guest give a score lower than six.
- Genius Ditz: A week in Bristol introduced Harriet, who came over as a ditzy Dumb Blonde, slow on the uptake, utterly unfamiliar with French cooking terms and full of malapropisms... when it is revealed she is an emergency ambulance paramedic.
- The Grinch: There was a contestant that loved Christmas, he chose to have a Christmas themed Dinner, as the menu goes on the guests start to clock what the theme is and one of the guests admit that she hates Christmas especially the food. Unsurprisingly he didn't win.
- Going Commando: An American contestant, a hippie-inclined Granola Girl, performed a gymnastic manouvre whilst wearing a very short skirt. The resultant Wardrobe Malfunction exposed the fact, for perhaps less than a second, that she did not favour the wearing of knickers. The episode in which this happened was up on the website and being regularly re-screened on TV for a good four years before anybody noticed; it has been severely edited since for rebroadcast, but the original is no doubt preserved in all its brief blurry glory somewhere in the murky recesses of the Web.
- Grande Dame: There is one every series a older woman, who is classy, either she does well or annoys the hell of the others.
- Haute Cuisine Is Weird: It's a gas to see something foreign on the menu and the contestants trying to pronounce the dish.
- One night a very snobbish man served a Jalapeño Ice as a palate cleanser note the Ice was served and one of the guest howled due to the heat.
- History Repeats: A rare real-life example, in the one Kent series, a Brutally Honest Hairdresser, flatly insulted the guests every night (apart from his), he didn't win and now every time his series airs he gets Death Threats to the point he pleaded with Channel Four to stop the reruns. What did he expect to happen?
- Hypocritical Humor: The best example was a Grande Dame who was a wine snob, who spent the previous nights complaining about the quality of the wines, however the one host gave her Boxed Wine when he refilled her and she drank it without thinking about it.
- Insufferable Imbecile: Insurance salesman Ross on the Swansea show, who managed to alienate all the other contestants and to have stand-up shouting rows across the dinner table with two of them - on two successive nights - and who completely forgot, or didn't seem to care, that his disparaging comments on what it was like to be an Englishman living in Wales would be witnessed by everyone - including the Welsh workmates who would be watching when the show was screened.
- Insult to Rocks: A staple of Dave Lamb's narration.
- It's All About Me: Sometimes the contestants are completely attention seeking to the point they try to take charge of the other people's dinner parties.
- Example: There was a man on the York week who was a confidence builder, he was great on his night but he annoyed everyone on the other people's night.
- Also there's a lot of name dropping if the person has met celebrities.
- It Tastes Like Feet: During a week in Dover, one bulldog mad contestant—who included a bulldog themed dish in every course—made a dipping sauce for her Dover sole she called 'Bulldog Baster'. After tasting it, one of the other contestants commented that it tasted like dog sweat, causing narrator Dave Lamb to ask "How would you know?!"
- Jerkass: It's more common to find a contestant or even an episode that isn't this.
- Jewish Mother: Matt, from Manchester, who has hardly cooked before as his mum has always done this, decides the only person who can help in a time of crisis is his mother. She takes over and a meal of "Mum's chicken soup" followed by boiled beef brisket emerges.
- Laser-Guided Karma: In the Barnsley week they had a guy called Phil Davies who was a serious foodie, to the point he spent everyone else's night saying what wine would have been suitable, also his long winded way of answering question grated on them especially first night's host Verene Farrell who had enough in one of the nights. His night was last and the guests weren't looking forward to it, despite being all talk Phil's menu (despite having different wines) was simple food stuff that he thought would impress with their homemade and grown ingredients were dismissed as a cop out by the guests who were willing to pick out any flaw which they did from the house being cold to the painful ambience due to it just being a boring dinner party he ended up joint last.
- Lemony Narrator: Dave Lamb's narration has him insulting some of the contestants' behavior, feeling exasperated by some of their questionable food choices, and being snarky in general.
- Loophole Abuse: One woman decided that she didn't want to cook, so she just ordered food in instead. Ain't No Rule that says you have to cook the food yourself.
- Men Are Uncultured: Sometimes, there was one guy who really ticked off the girls on their nights, licking the plates clean.
- Men Can't Keep House: Occasionally, one of the female contestants will be genuinely surprised a male competitor can cook — even in a cooking competition and especially if he's a student.
- Mood Whiplash: Sometimes this show which can be funny can have the odd moment that ends the humour while sometimes it can be the Sore Loser problem (see below) it can also be for other reasons:
- There was a woman who based her meal on the iconic works of Heston Blumenthal note , however during the main course, one of the guests belated her with an unfair accusation of being snobbish, cuts to her in tears plating up the dessert.
- In an example of goodwill one winner gave another contestant half of the money, he had revealed that he wanted the money help his sister pay her mortgage she had been unable to work due to cancer treatment. Then the visional fades a picture of the guy appears with text revealing that he died of cancer before the episode aired.
- Multi-National Shows: Britain, Ireland, Australia...
- My God, You Are Serious!: The hosts can surprise Dave Lamb with their views on cooking like putting Steak in a microwave, or as seen below the way the rifts have spoiled nights because the host is ignoring it.
- One great example was a host who based her meal on the iconic meal served in the movie Babette's Feast, however she wants to stick to the letter she doesn't act like a host and keeps referring to the movie to the point a frustrated Dave Lamb yells at her that Babette is a fictional character.
- Never My Fault: When people are dicks, they don't like to be confronted about it. There is a example however when a Grande Dame, did the last night, there had been tension between two of the guests and after one walked out, our host then said in the kitchen, the night was going well. Even Dave Lamb was shocked (rare for him) it was a shame she didn't stop it or she might have scored higher.
- Neat Freak: Looking round people's houses there can be signs of cleanliness. During one of the earlier shows there was one hostess who might have OCD, before serving each meal she cleaned up every dish or counter-space that she had used, leaving the guests wondering what was causing the delay.
- Nice to the Waiter: One of the biggest ways people have lost the show is that they think it's ok to verbally abuse the chef of the night when they have prepared food for them. If the guest has been nice, then it affects their score on the night of their cooking.
- Nipple and Dimed: The Czech version of the show, Prostrenonote caused controversy and lots of complaints to the TV company when contestant Zaneta Stastna turned an accidental Wardrobe Malfunction into a full-blown flashing of her breasts; Moral Guardians in the Czech Republic were even more outraged when another female contestant reached across the table and tweaked her nipples.
- The Other Darrin: In case somebody has to leave for any reason, there is a spare guest if this happens the replacement is given the final night and everyone shifts up one, there is a couple of times it happened due to sickness, one time the replacement had to eat the previous contestant's meal at home and score him despite not knowing the person.
- In a recent Week the unheard-of happened the host was removed during his own night and was disqualified. This left viewers wondering what the man did, during the night he had become slightly defensive over a boyband. The winner alleged that he was drunk and threatening having been drinking all day.
- Picky Eater: Why wouldn't there be some, in one week a guest was confronted with a Lasagne, which he was forced to admit his dislike for cheese thankfully the host made him something else.
- Another time a bratty woman who refused to try the beef main to the point when convinced to she went to the toilet and flushed the beef away, she then called the one guest a bully, she then said in the confession part that she never ate beef save for burgers which can be hypocritical since burgers can be anything minced up.
- Product Displacement: The British version was for a long time sponsored by wine company Echo Falls who used a catchy song, Camera Obscura's French Navy, as backing music to the "sponsored by" segments at the start and finish and book-ending commercial breaks. When the show changed sponsor, people contacted the makers to ask why they'd dropped the theme tune: it simply stuck in viewers' heads as the theme music, despite the fact the official theme tune, a low-key piece played on ominous pizzicato strings, was still there at start and end of the show.
- Precision F-Strike: Whenever someone gets really miffed. Sometimes mixed in with "The Reason You Suck" Speech. They're post-bleeped in the actual show, but the Channel 4 YouTube channel and the show's official channel has several uncensored clips to watch.
- Put Off Their Food: Never completely happened but a close call was the one Brighton guy who drowned his food in Mayonnaise, drank Coca Cola to the point his entertainment was Burping which grossed out one of the guests and in place of napkins he used a fresh loo roll. Later on he would ask for Mayo on the other guy's night which was received, but on the final night (which the host warmed the guy that she wouldn't serve it) he smuggled it onto his food only for one of the guests to rat him out and he was jokingly removed from the table.
- Another time was the guy that licked his plate's clean, don't know if it was for laughs or serious.
- Another time this happened for different reasons, in the one Birmingham series, Denise spent the whole week being picky about the others food, much to everyone's annoyance, the final night however Jean-Benoit served her a simpler version of the menu for her, Jean-Benoit did win but mainly because two of the guests gave him 9 which helped.
- Ridiculous Procrastinator: Lee Pritchard was the king of this, he ended up trying to cook everything when the guests arrived and ended up forgetting some of the Starters, he threw out one of his Creme Brulee and as a last attempt gave the guests the integrants for the missing starter, but he still felt he deserved a 10 for "effort" and he received the lowest score in the shows history to date 7 and that was "kind".
- Sleepyhead: Dawn was one the most beloved contestants of the show, she had to miss the desert on the third night due to her attempt to stay awake, then on her night she fell asleep once again and the other guests cooked the main and plated the desert, she did awaken but clearly had to be scored low.
- Small Name, Big Ego: A majority of the contestants.
- Smarter Than You Look: While Peter was quick to dismiss Charlotte as having "Nothing up there", she was the only contestant smart enough to figure out Jane's profession as a police officer. She also corrected figured Peter as someone would Can't Take Criticism two nights before his infamous breakdown.
- Sore Loser:
- In an infamous episode, a contestant named Peter was angry with a contestant named Jane in part due to his constant Compliment Fishing that backfired when he asked what they honestly thought of him and she responded that she found him pompus. This escalated into Peter calling her a "fat troll" and dismissing the other two contestants as unimportant and only "along for the ride". He then was asked to read out the winner of the competition and found out, to his dismay, that Jane had won. Instead of taking the loss with dignity he instead launched into a tirade and threw the camera crew out of his house.Peter: You won, Jane. Enjoy the money. I hope it makes you very happy.
Jane: Oh my God!
Peter: Dear Lord. What a sad little life, Jane. You ruined my night, completely, so you could have the money. But I hope you now spend it on getting some lessons in grace and decorum, because you have all the grace of a reversing dump-truck without any tyres on.
[contestants laugh nervously]
Contestant Charlotte: [quietly] I don't get it.
Peter: Well you wouldn't, let's be honest, there's nobody in there, love. [Aside Glance] So Jane, take your money and get off my property.
[beat]
Dave Lamb: [voiceover] ...doggy bag, anyone? - A similar outburst took place when contestant Heather (in Basingstoke) was placed fourth after regularly clashing with another contestant, Zairanote .Heather: [opens scroll] [Aside Glance] I don't believe this. I really don't. You put me fourth? No, seriously, I think you all have, really, put me...obviously, given me a low score. And I'm...really sad about that. You've really...peeved me off, actually...
Contestant Toby: [laughing awkwardly] Well someone's got to come fourth, haven't they?
Heather: No, because! My food was better than any of yours. Seriously? I am so shocked that you gave me what you did. My presentation was amazing! And...far better than any of yours! And...and I came fourth?! Do you know what -
Toby: What - what a way to end a week!
Heather: No, I'm sorry! I'm so upset with all you! I've been so honest about you! [getting in Zaira's face] I could've given you a zero because yours was sh[BEEP], alright?! [sobbing] Do you know what?! I don't deserve fourth! I'm - sorry, I'm going to bed. Forget it. I'm so upset! That is so sad!
[awkward silence]
Toby: I...I don't know what to say to that.- Heather did apparently go off for a sulk, but recovered herself to return a little later and finish the evening with good grace.
- And then, in a week where there were three women and two men. Unfortunately for one of the two men, the three women all appeared to fall for the charms of the other male contestant, flirting, giggling, preening and competing for his attentions. Over three nights this went up to eleven and the hapless second man was completely ignored and treated like part of the furniture. This became progressively uneasier to watch and reached a crescendo of embarrassment when the disregarded party, on his own night to host, was still treated, at best, as if he was the waiter bringing food to the table. In his own home, by his own guests. He put up with this stoically - until he exploded and delivered a monumental The Reason You Suck tirade to the others. Even though you could see his point, and wondered if the show's producers had deliberately set him up as a Chew Toy, it was still squirmingly embarrassing to watch.
- In an infamous episode, a contestant named Peter was angry with a contestant named Jane in part due to his constant Compliment Fishing that backfired when he asked what they honestly thought of him and she responded that she found him pompus. This escalated into Peter calling her a "fat troll" and dismissing the other two contestants as unimportant and only "along for the ride". He then was asked to read out the winner of the competition and found out, to his dismay, that Jane had won. Instead of taking the loss with dignity he instead launched into a tirade and threw the camera crew out of his house.
- Spin-Off: There are several countries that also have their own versions of the show. Channel Four has sometimes aired the South African version and the Aussie version. There is also Couples Come Dine With Me which had three couples doing the same. Four also created Come Dine With Me: Champion of Champions which is brought in past winners to battle, it has Dave Lamb appearing as Host instead.
- Vocal Evolution: Watch an early episode and you could be forgiven for thinking there was a different narrator. Dave Lamb's voiceover was originally restrained and unobtrusive but began to take centre stage as it got more snide and sarcastic.
- Wants a Prize for Basic Decency: Karma has a big presence in the show, poor conduct will bite hard into the jerk who tries to insult everyone at dinner and then tries to write it all off with a good meal when it's their turn to host.
